The State of Women and Girls in Massachusetts, January 26

On Wednesday, January 25, 2006, the State of Women and Girls Forum: From Impoverishment to Economic Justice was held at the Massachusetts State House. This was a high-powered, unique event organized by the Boston Women’s Fund, in collaboration with over 30 community organizations, including the Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights. This forum demonstrated how state budget cuts place an unequal burden upon women and children in the areas of healthcare, childcare, housing, reproductive rights, education, immigrant issues, poverty and violence. At this time of year, as official addresses reflect on the “state of the State” and the “state of the City,” our coalition provided an alternative perspective – one that recognizes that the human rights of women and girls in the Commonwealth remain unfulfilled in important ways.

Women and the US Budget, February 16

On Thursday, February 16, 2006 Jane Midgley, author of  Women and the U.S. Budget: Where the Money Goes and What You Can Do About It, led an informative discussion about her crash course in budget literacy for women and everyone who wants to understand and transform the use of our nation’s common resources. Jane was introduced by Nancy Ryan, Executive Director, Cambridge Women’s Commission on Women and the US Budget, part of a worldwide movement for more transparency and accountability in public budgeting, the book is a tool for advocacy and action.

The national budget represents the common resources of the people of the United States. Yet only a handful of experts understand the full impact of budget policy on the American people. Since women comprise just a fraction of national decision-makers, women’s needs and perspectives are largely left out of budget policy - a critical absence during our current era of rising deficits, increasing military and security budgets, and cutbacks in public investment.

Heidi Hartmann, President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research wrote, "...you’ll find an entertaining, clear and engaging explanation about what is important about our national budget and tax policy, how it affects women every day, and how US policy fits into the big picture of world economic growth. Every woman who wants to give children a good start in life and make this world a better place to live needs to read this book."

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) wrote the foreword to Women and the U.S. Budget: Where the Money Goes and What You Can Do About It, published by New Society Publishers.

The event was cosponsored by The Cambridge Peace Commission, The Cambridge Women’s Commission, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, The Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights (Suffolk University), and The Center for New Words.

For more information about the book visit http://www.womenandtheusbudget.com/

Shifting the Paradigm: Paths to Women’s Political Leadership in the US, March 8

Speakers at this celebration of International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 included Linda Dorcena Forry, State Representative 12th Suffolk District;  Lida E. Harkins, State Representative, House Majority Whip; Charlotte Golar Richie, Chief of Housing, City of Boston; Mary S. Rogeness, State Representative; Assistant Minority Leader; Dessima Williams, Sociology Professor, Brandeis and Women’s Rights Activist.

Working Coalition for International Women’s Day: Boston Women’s Commission; Irish Immigration Center, MA Commission on the Status of Women; MA Women’s Political Caucus; Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change; United Nations Association of Greater Boston; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Women’s Bureau , Region 1, U.S. Department of Labor; The Women’s Union.

Supporting Organizations included: AIDS Action Committee; Amnesty International; American Islamic Congress; American Anti-Slavery Group; Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence; Association of Haitian Women Inc.; Boston Women’s Heritage Trail; Boston Black Women’s Health Institute; Boston Research Center for the 21st Century; Boston Women’s Fund; Brazilian Women’s Group; Brazilian Immigrant Center; Common Cause Massachusetts; Cambridge Women’s Commission; Center for Public and Community Service, UMass Boston; Center for New Words; CCHERS, Inc.; Coalition for a Strong United Nations; Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, UMass Boston; Ethiopian Adbar Women’s Alliance; Girls’ Coalition; Jane Doe, Inc.; Latino Health Institute; MA Caucus of Women Legislators; MA Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; MA CEDAW Project; MassCosh; MA NOW; Mass Welfare Rights Union; Office on Women’s Health and Office of Minority Health Region, 1 U.S. DHHS; Our Bodies Ourselves; Refugee Immigrant and Assistance Center; Rosie’s Place; Somerville Commission for Women; Suffolk University Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights; Seniors Connect Inc.; Survivors Inc.; The Network/La Red; Women’s Institute for Leadership Development; Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development; Women of Means; and the World Peace Prayer Society.

The Mary P. Burke UN Women’s Conference Collection, September 8

The opening of the Mary P. Burke Collection was celebrated with a gala reception on Friday, September 8. The event was co-sponsored by the John Joseph Moakley Law Library.

Research on Women’s Health and Biomedical Careers in the 21st Century, October 5

On Thursday, October 5, 2006, Dr. Vivian Pinn, Director of Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health, discussed her work as the first director for Women’s Health at NIH.  The program was established to address the need for better understanding of the unique issues related to women’s health, both conditions that are gender specific (such as breast cancer) and conditions that are not (such as coronary artery disease). Dr. Pinn also discussed the opportunities and challenges for women and minorities entering the biomedical field. A reception followed the lecture.

The event was cosponsored by the Government and Sociology Departments, The Environmental Science and Women’s and Gender Studies Programs, and The Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights.

Peace Activist and Author Grace Paley Speaks About Women’s Rights, November 3

On Tuesday, November 28, Grace Paley spoke at Suffolk’s Poetry Center, in the new Mildred F. Sawyer Library.

Grace Paley is one of the most beloved of American writers. Born into a family of radical Russian immigrants in the Bronx, she dropped out of college to get married during World War II, then settled in Greenwich Village, had children, and began her dual career of writing and political activism. She published her first book of short stories in 1959, and began to teach creative writing at Sarah Lawrence, where she remained for many years.

In 1961, she was a founder of the Greenwich Village Peace Center, which became a nexus of draft resistance during the Vietnam War. At the height of the war, in 1969, Paley was one of a delegation to North Vietnam to bring back three pilots who had been shot down. Though her acclaim as a writer grew steadily, she remained politically active, opposing nuclear weapons in the Clamshell Alliance and the War Resisters League. In 1980, she helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action, and was active in the anti-nuclear campaigns at Seneca Falls

In 1986, she was honored as the first official state writer of New York. She has also been given awards by the Lannan Foundation, the New York Council for the Arts, and others. Paley is a board member of PEN American Center and was the founding chair of Women’s WORLD.

Co-sponsored by the Poetry Center and the Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights at Suffolk University.

Bibliography

The Little Disturbances of Man. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959. (stories)
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1974. (stories)
16 Broadsides. St. Paul, MI: Bookslinger, 1980. (poems)
Goldenrod. Penobscot, ME: Granite Press, 1982. (poems)
Later the Same Day. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985. (stories)
Leaning Forward: Poems. Penobscot, ME: Granite Press, 1985.
Long Walks and Intimate Talks. Illustrated by Vera Williams. New York: Feminist Press, 1991.
New and Collected Poems. Gardiner: Tilbury House. 1992.
Collected Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994.
Just as I Thought. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998. (prose)
Begin Again: Collected Poems. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2001